


Sinners

by Stephoki



Category: Supernatural, destiel - Fandom
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Normal High School, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Child Abuse, Derogatory Language, Developing Relationship, Drinking, Drug Abuse, Drug Use, Drugs, Explicit Language, High School, Homophobic Language, Language, M/M, My First Destiel Fanfic, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Physical Abuse, Possible smut, Religion, Religious Conflict, Secret Relationship, Teen Romance, Teenagers, Underage Drinking, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-17
Updated: 2014-08-17
Packaged: 2018-02-05 02:11:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1801582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stephoki/pseuds/Stephoki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean's mom died in a house fire and his father, not able to bear staying in the town any longer, packs up Dean and his little brother Sammy and moves them to Chicago. New school, new life.<br/>There he meets a quirky kid named Garth, a loyal friend, Benny, and a stuck up, stick up his you know where, Castiel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Dean pulled his jacket closer around him as his dad drove down the highway. He hadn’t wanted to leave his home and he made sure it was known, forcing a thick atmosphere into the car, even with the windows open. Sammy, Dean’s younger brother, was sitting in the back of the Impala, reading a book as if nothing was wrong, and John, Dean’s father, was staring straight ahead, white knuckling the steering wheel.  


“We could have stayed,” Dean grumbled under his breath and leaned back further into the seat. John gave him a tight lipped glance but didn’t say anything. Two months ago at their old Kansas house, a fire broke out. Dean had helped Sam out of the house and into the yard and their father came out shortly after. Unfortunately their mom wasn’t so lucky. That didn’t mean he had to run.  


Now they were on a road trip to Chicago where there would be an apartment waiting for them. No doubt with loud neighbors and other teenagers all too willing to pick on the “country hicks”. Dean wasn’t so much worried about himself as Sam though. Dean could always find a place, and he could care less what people thought of him, but Sammy on the other hand... Sammy liked to keep his nose stuffed in books and had trouble at the last school and in this city, things weren’t likely to get better.  


“How much longer do you think Dad?” Sammy piped up from the backseat. Dean could see his reflection in the rearview mirror and he could tell his long hair was blowing in his eyes making it difficult for him to read.  


“Just about another hour I’d guess.” For some reason, this information didn’t make Dean feel any better. It was already getting colder up here and he quickly pulled the leather jacket closer and zipped it up, turning the small task into a feat of grumbling under his breath. The sun was also going down and Dean was frustrated with the hours pent up behind the dashboard. There was nothing to do but sleep and dwell on things he’d rather forget. Yet the Impala traveled on, barreling down the highway past cars from all over the country, carrying Dean even farther from his home.

The trip turned into another two hours. They entered the city about ten minutes prior and Dean couldn’t help but stare, even if he was against the idea of living here. He’d never been out of his old small town, two story buildings at most placed every few yards in small neighborhoods. Here though, buildings towered so high he had to crane his neck back to be able to see the tops of them and it made him dizzy. There were lights everywhere, in thousands of windows, billboards, cars and airplanes. The only lack of light was the stars which he used to be able to see.  


As the car pulled into a large building complex and underneath the building into the garage, Dean let himself sit back and glance at his brother who was still trying to get the smallest of peeks at the city that was now behind them. When John had parked the car, he didn’t make a move to get out and instead looked between his sons.  
“Look, I know this isn’t what you boys had planned, but it’s a new start, you can make new friends. There’s a lot more to do around here too. I’m sure you’ll love it,” he was giving them both a hopeful glance, his eyes praying they would give it a chance.  


“I’m sure I will Dad,” Dean’s flat voice gave away his frustration as he opened the car door and slammed it, stomping around to the back of the car. Usually Sam was the one to argue with John, but this time he didn’t actually seem to mind, or at least he didn’t show it if he did. Of all the things to not care about and it was this.  


Opening the trunk, Dean grabbed the couple of bags he had brought, swinging them over his shoulders. There hadn’t been a lot to bring of course, most everything was destroyed in the fire. Sammy got out next and Dean handed him his large duffel, then stepped back and waited for John to get out of the car which he eventually did. Dean let John get his own bag out and shut the trunk, locking the car before also letting him lead the way.  


Their first stop was the office in the first level, to pick up their new keys, then to the elevator. The ride was quiet, Dean pressing himself into the corner, as far away from his father as possible. When the elevator stopped at their floor he waited for both John and Sam to get out before exiting, bringing up the rear.  
The apartment was on the eleventh floor, room number 283. And it was cold. The hallways alone didn’t seem that great, Dean was just hoping the room was better and was relieved when it was. It wasn’t nearly as good as their old home though.  


You could give yourself the tour from the front door. The kitchen was on the left side, the tiny living room straight ahead, already furnished with a coffee table, an obviously used, but still in fairly good condition couch, a recliner and a small television. The heater was under the window, steaming it up but thankfully making the apartment warm, even if it was loud. Past the kitchen on the left wall was one bedroom, a large bed seen from the crack in the door, that would be John’s room. On the right was a small hallway, a tiny linen closet, a bathroom and another, smaller bedroom with two twin beds and a dresser inside.  


“Go on and put your bags up boys, get settled in. We only have one bathroom and I’ll be using it in the morning. I leave before you go to school, so Dean make sure Sammy here gets breakfast and that you both get to school on time. You can take the car, I’ve already worked it out with the school, I’m taking the city bus. Understood?”  


“Yes sir,” both Sam and Dean mumbled and walked to their room. It was colder in their room than the main area, but not quite as cold as the hallway. Dean took a second to look around before laying his bags on the bed and unzipping them.  


“So, are you ready for tomorrow?” Dean feebly tried to make conversation.  


“No. I wish we were back at home.”  


“So do I, but I guess we don’t have a choice otherwise I think we would still be back there,” Dean pulled out his jeans and stuck them in the top drawer on the dresser, laying some of his shirts next to those. Then he pulled out his sweat pants and put them in one side of the middle drawer, leaving the other for Sam. He slipped out of his own clothes, laying them into the drawers as well, and pulled a gray T-shirt over his head and one pair of sweatpants over his hips. Last, he laid the rest of his stuff on the top of the dresser and put his jacket over one corner of the door before turning around to see Sammy sitting on the corner of his bed, playing with his thumbs. “What’s up Sammy?” Dean frowned.  


“I miss Mom.” Sammy looked up and Dean could tell he was trying hard not to cry. He could tell because he’d felt that way too many times over the past months. Slowly, Dean walked over and sat down on the bed beside him.  


“I do too, Sammy. I do too. But you know what?” Dean swallowed hard and blinked a little bit, looking out the new window at the city lights outside.  


“Hmm?” Sam looked up to his older brother.  


“Mom wouldn’t want us to be sad. You know? She’d want us to keep going on, and I guess we’re doing that,” Dean wasn’t one to get all sappy and he’d probably already crossed that line, so he got up and patted Sam’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s go to bed. We have to get up early tomorrow.”

John woke up Dean when he left, making sure that Dean would have enough time to get ready and get Sam up. Dean groggily walked out to the living area and put the chain on the door behind their father before deciding to make breakfast and let Sam sleep in. When he looked in the pantry though the only things inside were a few dead bugs and a leftover can of creamed corn. Sighing he walked back to the room and got dressed.  


“Sam, come on kid, you gotta get up,” Dean gently shook Sam’s shoulder until he blinked himself awake. “Get dressed quickly and I’ll try to find us something for breakfast.”  


Sam obeyed and got dressed in jeans, a button up shirt and a jacket then grabbed his bag and he and Dean walked out of the house, locking the door. The had to leave in a half an hour. If Dean could find a grocery store, or someplace that sold something to eat close by then they might be able to get breakfast before they were late.  
It was freezing outside, not surprising since it was January, but Dean wished he and Sam had warmer jackets. They hurried down the sidewalk, trying to stay together as they pushed through throngs of people. On the corner of the street they found a small store and Dean opened the door, ushering Sam inside before entering himself  
The clerk didn’t even look up from his magazine when the bell rang. Dean wandered around the aisles trying to find something he could get for under five dollars which was all he had in his pocket. He walked to the fridge in back and grabbed a small milk that costed two dollars, then two granola bars which brought his total to about a perfect five. After checking out he walked up to Sam and handed him the milk and one of the granola bars.  


Sam didn’t complain, knowing that this was going to be how things were from now on. They hadn’t had insurance so they were practically broke, and John’s new job wasn’t going to be bringing in a lot of money. Dean planned on getting a part time job as soon as he could find one to help with money for food and essentials, but at the same time, their Dad wanted Dean staying at home to take care of Sam.  


They headed back to the apartment complex, Dean munching on his small granola bar on the way. It was gone by the time they reached the building and they both went inside the lobby to get to the garage. Dean unlocked the Impala when they reached it and opened the door, sitting himself in the driver’s seat and turning on the engine, letting it run for a little to warm up the car.  


Dean didn’t really know where the school was, he hadn’t had time to scope out the town, but there was a small, very detailed map laid out and there was a red dot marking where they currently were and a blue dot where the school was located. Hopefully Dean could get them there without getting killed. He imagined the roads might be icy in this cold of weather.  


When Sam had settled in, Dean had found an appropriate radio station (appropriate being for his tastes) and he felt warm enough, Dean backed out of the space and pulled out of the garage and onto the road. He also wasn’t used to driving with this many people on the road, and the backup of cars prevented him from doing his usual over speed limit.  


Sam would occasionally call out directions and eventually, just on time actually, they made it to the jr/sr high school and parked. Dean got out, his bag slung carelessly over his shoulder, Sam carefully got out and slipped his bag onto his back. Sam followed Dean up the steps to the school and waited for him to open the door. Dean had paused, looking up at the building and frowning.  


“You ready Sammy?”  


“Nope.”  


“Neither am I,” Dean announced, then opened the door and headed for the office, Sam at his heels. It wasn’t a long distance but on the way they were getting curious glances. Dean raised an eyebrow at them and winked at a few of the girls, giving them his signature smile.  


The office was a mix of different cubicles, desks and doors not too far from the main entrance. It was different from what Dean was used to. His office in his old school in Kansas used to be a whole separate building. A blonde woman with way too much mascara looked up as Dean walked towards the front desk.  


“Can I help you?” She asked, an annoyed tone entering her voice.  


“Yeah, me and my...” Dean turned and grabbed Sam’s shoulder, “little brother here, we’re new. Dean and Sam Winchester?”  


“Right here. Here’s your schedules, locker numbers and combinations,” she quickly handed over a stack of papers and Dean took them, eager to get out. He handed Sam’s to him and looked over his own.  


“Do you want me to help you find your locker?”  


“No, I don’t need my big brother looking after me all the time. I can do some things on my own. I’ll meet you out here when schools done.”  
Dean watched, a little confused, as Sam walked off down the hall. That was new. Shrugging it off he glanced back down at his paper ready to find his locker and put his books in. As he turned the corner, some guy ran into him and fell backwards.  


“You okay there?” Dean looked down as the guy hurriedly picked his things back up.  


“Yes, of course,” The guy looked up and wide grin spread across his face. “You’re one of the new kids,” he stumbled to his feet and shoved out a thin hand. “Garth, Garth Fitzgerald the Fourth.”  


Dean awkwardly shook his hand, “Oh, so there’s three more of you...” As Garth looked away Dean rolled his eyes.  


“Of course,” Garth stated, shoving his last book into a messenger bag. “Do you need any help, I’m glad to help. Here, let me see your schedule.” The schedule was ripped from Dean’s hands. “We have first period together, great! Here, I’ll show you to your locker.”  


“Oh, there’s really no need for-”  


“I insist. Follow me,” Garth started off down the hall, the opposite direction from which he had been going. Dean reluctantly did follow the skinny guy down the hall. He was a fast walker though. When Dean turned a corner, he found Garth leaning against a locker, paper held lightly between his fingertips and grinning. “I never got your name.”  


“Dean. Thanks for showing me the locker, I guess. I’ll see ya in first.” Dean tried to push Garth off but he stuck like glue, jabbering on about how long he had lived there and how he knew that Dean was a new kid. All through opening his locker and shoving books inside, he was thinking about slamming his head inside of it. Lucky for him the bell rang and he closed the locker, slapping the lock on and zipping his bag. Garth momentarily stopped talking before then announcing he would show Dean to first period. Dean was really hoping that first period was the only one they shared.


	2. Chapter 2

The worst part of that morning had been being introduced as the new kid. The eyes, staring at him when he wasn’t looking, sideways glances and hushed whispers. They were all judging him. So Dean did what he always did and brushed it off, played it cool, threw a few winks to whoever he caught staring. It worked as well as he might of expected, got a few conversations up and going between classes, but nothing much.  


His first class had been English 3 and not surprisingly, he had a lot to catch up on. He was never one to try real hard in school, but he usually managed to pass. Auto shop was next on the list and Dean was glad that they at least had one class he might enjoy. After that was algebra which he struggled with, and ceramics which was a scheduling mix up they refused to change. That was actually, most likely, Dean’s worst class. The apron made him feel too girly.  


Now though, he was sitting in the cafeteria, at a table by himself. He wasn’t eating anything because he had spent his lunch money on breakfast that morning, not that he cared too much. Instead of focusing on his hunger, he looked around the cafeteria and noticed Sammy walking in the far door.  


He was alone too, head hung low, backpack weighing him down. As he headed towards the lunch line, Dean debated whether to go talk to him. Earlier that morning Sam had seemed to not want to talk to Dean, but of course, was that really going to stop him? He waited for Sam to exit the line before slipping out of his seat and walking up to him.  


“Come here,” he told Sammy who looked up at Dean silently, then he led them to the table where he had just been seated. “How’s your day been so far?” Sam just shrugged. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Dean frowned and was about to push him a little more when he noticed someone standing behind them. Sam had noticed first though and was already turned around.  


“I talked to your teacher, I will agree to tutor you but I insist working at the library,” the guy said, staring directly at Sam, acting as if Dean didn’t even exist. “Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings at five. Is that understood?” Dean wasn’t sure what the guy was talking about. He didn’t think he would like him either. Neatly pressed black pants, button up shirt tucked in, sleeves cuffed exactly once on each arm. The only thing a little bit messy on him was stubble across his jawline.  


“Alright,” Sam nodded slowly and the guy lingered there for a second before moving across the cafeteria to a table of people all dressed similarly.  


“Who was that and what was all that about?” Dean frowned at Sam who was now picking at the food on his tray.  


“That was Castiel, my teacher offered to have him tutor me,” Sammy muttered softly, not looking Dean in the eye.  


“Tutor you? In what?” Dean was a little shocked. Sam had always been one of the smartest kids he knew, even for his young age.  


“Maths and Latin...”  


“Math? Since when do you need help in math, or even take Latin?”  


“I took beginning Latin online last year in the computer lab, they have a second class open here so I was going to take it, look I don’t want to talk about it,” Sam mumbled it before turning and standing up and leaving. Dean sat there looking after his little brother, willing to give him time alone but not sure how else to make him feel better. He could presume the whole situation they’ve been through had affected his grades, but he wouldn’t have even thought it would affect them enough to get tutored.  


“I’m not going to fight you,” a voice said, loud and stern from a nearby table before a short uproar. Dean turned his head to watch as a guy stood up and grabbed the collar of the guy across the table. The other in turn gently pried his fingers off, through the chorus of “fight”s echoing from people around them, and walked off, heading in Dean’s direction.  


When he sat down in front of him, Dean raised an eyebrow and waited for him to explain or introduce himself or, say something. Nothing of the sort happened, and the guy remained sitting there, eating his food. Finally Dean cleared his throat and the guy looked up.  


“Sorry, I’m Benny,” The guy said with a short nod.  


“Dean.”  


“Nice to meet ya, sorry about that, they can get a little hot headed,” Benny jerked his thumb towards the table he just vacated.  


“Not a problem.”  


“So you’re new around here huh?”  


“That obvious?”  


“We don’t get a lot of new kids, so when we do, it gets around. Where’d you come here from?”  


“Uh, Kansas.” Dean replied.  


“Could tell you weren’t a city boy.”  


“What about you, you don’t sound like a local."  


“Louisiana, born and raised. Moved up here last year,” Benny took a bite of whatever that was on his fork. “Don’t worry, you’ll fit in just fine. Just gotta find the right friends.”  


“And who would those be?” Dean tapped his fingers on the table.  


“That’s not for me to tell ya.”  


“Well, thanks for the help,” he sighed.  


Benny raised an eyebrow, “So what classes you got coming up?”  


“Government, Gym and Physics.”  


“You got gym sixth?”  


“Yeah.”  


“Cool, see ya then,” Benny got up with his tray and threw it out, leaving the cafeteria. With no reason to stay, Dean left too and waited on the stairs for the bell to ring.

Dean had been held back a grade. Once, in elementary school. That’s the only reason he was in the godforsaken government class. It was also why people had a hard time believing he was a junior and not a senior.  


He chewed on the end of the pencil, staring down at the test he hadn’t studied for. Not a surprise since he was new, but the teacher was still insisting he take it even though he had no idea what any of it was about.  


Around him, pencils scratched on paper and Dean looked up to see everyone else writing away. It made him feel stupid. But a lot of things could do that. He didn’t seem to catch on to normal school subjects.  


There were things he was good at, like fixing cars, or shooting a gun like he had done back in Kansas, at a range of course. Then the conventional things, they never seemed to add up quite right in his mind. After a while of this, worrying about grades and understanding materials, Dean sort of gave up and resigned himself to following in John’s footsteps, becoming a mechanic somewhere.  


The bell rang and Dean looked down at his paper, the only thing written on it, his name. Sighing and shaking his head he stood up and crumpled the paper in his hands, tossing it into the trash. He saw the teacher’s frown but chose to ignore it like he did most of his problems and then headed out the door into the horde of students hurrying to their next classes.  


On his way to his next class, gym, he felt a scrawny hand take a hold of his jacket, either pulling him back or helping them pull themselves forward. Either way, the kid, Garth, had managed to become in stride with him with a grin on his face.  


“What class you got, Dean-o?” He asked, pulling at the straps on his backpack which looked to be twice his size.  


“Uh... gym,” he said, not looking down at Garth, hoping that would discourage him. Unfortunately it didn’t.  


“I have gym next. We could be locker buddies and all. Get lockers next to each other? No one took the ones next to mine,” Garth looked up at him, trying to keep up with a hop in his step. It almost made Dean feel bad. Obviously it didn’t seem like Garth had many serious friends, but he was a bit too perky for Dean’s patience.  


Dean still sighed and responded with, “Yeah, sure. Why not?” Just to make him feel better about himself. It was like charity work, except without the old people or the homeless or what not.  


“Cool,” Garth laughed and continued to pester Dean until they got to the gym. He promptly showed Dean his locker and told him that he could put his stuff in there. The problem was that Dean hadn’t gotten anything to stick in it yet.  


“Winchester?” A voice called out and Dean dropped his backpack to the ground and turned.  


“Right here, Coach,” Dean raised an eyebrow and stuffed his hands in his pockets.  


“Here’s your uniform,” he tossed some clothes at Dean and he caught them. “You may be from the country, but in the city we don’t take it easy when it’s cold outside.” Then he turned to the rest of the class. “Everyone get your uniforms on then get out to the track.”  


After he turned and left Dean let out a low whistle. “Somebody has their gym shorts in a twist,” he rolled his eyes and held up the uniform. “Speaking of gym shorts...”  


“I believe the coach was just informing you that we don’t accept slackers,” a surprisingly low voice echoed. Dean lowered the uniform to look across the locker room at the guy who was supposedly “tutoring” his brother.  


Dean narrowed his eyes and replied, “That’s not what it sounded like.” Then slipping his jacket off over his shoulders and stuffing it in the locker he added, “And I ain’t no slacker.”

The field was cold, as Dean had expected and he stood out in the middle of the track with the other students, waiting for any instructions. So far the coach wasn’t even out. And he had the nerve to imply that Dean was a slacker.  


Eventually he came strolling out of his office in jeans and a large jacket, protecting him from the cold weather. He stopped in front of the group of students and picked up his clipboard. Dean had managed to slip away from Garth and stand next to Benny who he had been talking to for the last five minutes.  
Coach started calling role, always using their last names, “Anderson,” and “Fitzgerald,” which was Garth. He called out “Lafitte,” and Benny raised his hand. Then the annoying guy who was tutoring his brother was “Novak,” or something like that.  


“Winchester, where are you?”  


“Over here sir,” Dean raised his hand. The coach had just seen him in the locker room. Was it really necessary for him to call his name again?  


“What do you think you’re doing, sweet-cheeks?” The coach growled sarcastically.  


“Uh, what do you mean?”  


“I told you to put on your uniform. Not switch out your shirt. You afraid you gonna freeze your balls off?” He glared at Dean and the crowd separated all to either get a better look at him or to let the coach get the better look. Dean had left on his jeans that he had been wearing, not really liking his other option.  


“No. But, I don’t do shorts, honey,” he gave the coach a grin and looked around him. A few people laughed, especially Garth, but that Castiel character kept a solid poker face as well as did some of his buddies that were with him.  


“Don’t get smart with me, boy. Run a mile and see how you feel then,” the coach said and pointed at the track. “I said go!” he yelled when Dean just stood there not sure if it was an order of just one of those ‘you wait and see’ kind of moments. Dean shook his head slightly as he jogged past the coach.  


Apparently the rest of the kids were getting to stand by and watch him run the mile. As if it would be some kind of entertainment. If that’s what they were hoping for, they’d be sorely disappointed. Dean was a good runner, he was fast and kept good pace. Even if the cold air was burning his lungs, he kept going, not about to show any sort of weakness to these people.  


When he passed them the first time, a little less than three minutes later, he was met with silent stares, except from the coach. He in turn decided to yell to push Dean even harder. It worked too, pissing Dean off just enough to get him to bump up the speed a notch. Halfway around the second lap of four he figured to bump it up another notch. He finished that lap in two minutes.  


He kept the speed up and on the third lap, another two minutes, people were starting to talk. He was heading towards an eight minute mile and not even breaking a sweat. Some people assumed that could have been because it was so cold. Others thought that Dean could beat their school track record.  


Dean pushed the last half of the final lap, making the whole thing in less than a minute at top speed. His total time was seven minutes and fifty six seconds. At least that’s what he heard someone exclaim as he skidded to a stop on the track.  


Everyone was grinning at him, except for that one crowd of course and Benny smacked him on the back. Even the coach didn’t have anything to say bad about Dean and instead sent him off with the rest of the group to the basketball courts as a last minute change of plans.  


“Looks like we got ourselves a new track star,” Benny said as he picked up a basketball off the cement court and bounced it a few times.  


“Maybe. Don’t really know if track is my thing. Besides, isn’t track season over?” Dean stole the ball from Benny and spun around him, taking a shot but missing the basket, having the ball bounce off the rim.  


“Yeah, but there’s always next year. Pretty sure Coach will want to recruit ya. He may be tough but he’s not all that bad,” Benny picked up the ball from where it was now rolling back towards them.  


“Tough? He insulted me. Freeze my balls off? I mean come on. At least I have balls to freeze off... the man couldn’t even come out without a heavy duty winter coat to protect him from the cold.”  


Benny chuckled and tossed the ball himself, bouncing it off the headboard and landing it solidly into the net. Dean raced after, bouncing it back to Benny.  
“That’s just how Coach is. Don’t worry though, I think you’ve showed him,” The southern boy took another shot and it ricocheted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you made it this far! Awesome! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy!


	3. Chapter 3

The best part of the day was the end. Dean made it to his locker to shove his new books inside, too lazy to carry them home today. Besides, it wasn’t like he had any place to put them.

He met up with sammy at the front doors. He was standing off to the side away from all the bigger kids who were practically stampeding out the doors. Dean managed to sidle up next to him and take a hold of his elbow.

“You ready to go back to the apartment?” Dean looked down at Sam who was looking at his shoes as if trying to figure out how to tie his unknotted shoelace with his mind.

“I can’t...” he mumbled and Dean cocked an eyebrow asking, “Why not?”

“I have to go to be tutored. Castiel said we start today after school. I have to go to the library...” he didn’t sound too happy about it but Dean couldn’t blame him. Spending time with that guy after school hours didn’t seem like anybody’s idea of fun. He had a damn stick up his ass for one thing.

“Can’t you talk to him? We just moved in and we still have to get used to the place. And... I was going to go look for a job,” Dean said a little quieter as if he didn’t want the students passing by to know he wasn’t the lazy smart ass he impersonated in the classroom.

“I thought Dad didn’t want you getting a job yet,” Sam tore his gaze away from his shoes and looked up Dean.

“Yeah, well he’s going to be gone most of the time and we need to have food at the place. It’s my job to take care of you and sometimes I can’t just do that from home,” during a break in the students Dean tugged on Sammy’s elbow and pulled him into the crowd, making their way outside into the harsh winds.

Sam didn’t say anything and instead looked out in front of him. The parking lot was across the street which Dean found weird and difficult considering all the cars that were currently pulling out of school.

They made their way across the road and into the parking lot where Dean directed Sam towards the car and unlocked the doors, pulling his open. The first thing he did was turn the engine on, hoping it hadn’t frozen over. He wasn’t used to being in this cold of weather and Baby wasn’t either. Sure it got cold in Kansas, just not usually this cold. It couldn’t be good on the car’s engine or anything for that matter.

Dean blasted the heat, trying to warm them up and he looked over to Sam, “So the guy said five right?”

“Yeah, at the library. Not the school library. The public library.”

“Well did he happen to give you any directions? Cause I don’t know where the library is. I barely know where the apartment is,” Dean grumbled and sighed when Sam shook his head. “Well did you get his phone number or something so we can call the son of a bitch and get this straightened out?”

“Yeah, but don’t yell at him. I need the help and I don’t want him to not tutor me anymore.”

“Come on, it’s like you don’t know me at all,” Dean smirked and took the phone number Sam pulled out of his jacket pocket and pulled out his own phone, dialing in the number.

“Hello?” The deep voice rang on the other end of the line. It surprised him again how deep this guy’s voice was, especially for only being in high school.

“This Castiel?” Dean asked, short and to the point.

“Yes... and whom, may I ask, is speaking?”

“This is Dean. Remember me?” He smirked a little bit at their encounter in the locker room. He was just so stuck up. Must suck for him.

“Dean? I’m afraid I don’t.”

“From gym class. I’m new and you’re tutoring my brother, Sammy...”

“It’s Sam,” the boy grumbled from the passenger seat, crossing his arms over his chest and turning to look out the window.

“Anyway, you told him to meet you at the library but didn’t bother telling him how to get there.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you wouldn’t know how to get there,” he said cooly. If he had said it a little less mechanically then Dean may have even claimed he was being nice and he wasn’t as bad as he had originally come off.

“We’re new around here. Not like we’ve had time to look around or anything.”

“Are you driving to the library?”

“Yeah we’re driving. What does it matter to you?” Dean furrowed his eyebrows and sat back in the seat rolling his eyes.

“If you would like to pick me up then I could give you directions to the library and you could drop Sam and I off,” he said, a tinge of wanting in his voice.

“Okay, one, I’m not just dropping him off with you. And two, pick you up? Why can’t you just tell us how to get there?” Dean pulled the phone back to look at it with a weird look. Did he not have a car or something? He was fitted with the best clothes and obviously had a good education so he probably came from some penthouse on top of one of the nicer apartment buildings in the area. It’s not like he couldn’t afford one.

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line before a small sigh. “I suppose I could, yes.” Castiel proceeded to give him directions after getting out of the parking lot and Dean put the car in drive.

“We’ll be there soon,” Dean said and then flipped the phone closed, shoving it back in his pocket.

“Why did Castiel want us to pick him up?” Sam asked, not even looking away from the window.

“Thought it would be easier to show us how to get there,” Dean shrugged and pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road.

 

The library wasn’t too far and it wasn’t a bad drive after he got out of the line of students all hurrying home. The building didn’t look like any library he had seen, though his libraries back at home had been small. Lawrence wasn’t a big town so they didn’t really need a big library.

Dean pulled up to the curb and shut the car off, motioning for Sam to hurry up and get out of the car. Once they got up to the library it would hopefully be warmer. Dean got out himself, shouldering his backpack, figuring maybe there was something in there to entertain himself with.

“Do you know if this Castiel guy is here yet?” Dean asked Sammy as they walked into the library.

“Castiel Novak?” The librarian asked and Dean raised an eyebrow, turning to look at her. She probably wasn’t really a librarian. Probably a volunteer since she looked about his age.

“Yeah, I guess...” he said wearily.

“He’s not here yet. He’ll probably be here in about ten minutes if you want to wait. He always gets here at 4:45,” she smiled a little and Dean nodded shortly and went to go sit in a couple of seats by the door.

 

Exactly at 4:45, the man himself walked through the door and Dean looked up, getting a really good look at him for the first time. He was tall, but not taller than Dean, and he had dark brown hair, maybe you could actually call it black. Over his dress shirt and jacket he wore a tan trench coat that Dean was sure didn’t actually help block him from the cold.

“Hey Clarence,” the girl behind the desk smirked a little and looked over at him.

“Hello Meg, and it’s Castiel, you know that...” he looked away and spotted Dean and Sam who had sat in the chair beside him. He beelined over and stood there for a moment in silence.

“Sam, are you ready to begin? Let’s find a table to work at,” Castiel looked around the library and seemed to find a good spot because he started off and Sam hurriedly grabbed his bag and followed Cas. Dean in turn, swung his own backpack up and followed them.

When Dean plopped himself down in one of the seats both Castiel and Sam looked at him. Only now did Dean notice Castiel’s extremely red nose and hands and he raised an eyebrow but didn’t have time to question it before the guy asked, “Am I supposed to be tutoring you as well? I was not informed-”

“No... no I’m good, I just don’t trust you with Sammy here,” Dean interrupted and ruffled Sam’s hair. He in turn shot Dean a look that practically screamed to stop embarrassing him. Dean just chuckled and added, “Don’t take it personally, I don’t trust anyone with my little brother.”

“You may become a distraction, so if you could please relocate yourself. There are some chairs right over there...” Castiel gestured to some of the same over stuffed chairs he had been in, only a few feet to the side.

“What’s the matter Cas? Am I too much fun for ya?” Dean smiled over at him innocently and the blank look on Castiel’s face settled into a small frown.

“You are not what I consider ‘fun’. Now if you’ll please-”

“Relocate myself, yeah, I get it,” Dean rolled his eyes but stood up and moved towards the sitting area.

 

He couldn’t find anything to do. There was nothing in his backpack of any interest to him and watching Castiel work with Sam was far from entertaining although after a while, Sam seemed to be enjoying himself. Dean on the other hand couldn’t stay still. It was boring. Next time he’d try to find something to bring. Not like there was much that entertained him that was portable.

Eventually he got up and wandered around a little bit, not too far though. There was a stack of newspapers on the corner of a table and Dean picked one up taking it back to the seat. Then he resettled himself and kicked his feet up on the chair in front of him and opened the paper up, flipping to the Classifieds. 

Sometimes there were wanted ads in there and he was hoping to find some for jobs he could do. Back home he had done things like mow lawns or he worked in his uncle’s auto shop. Now, in Chicago, it wasn’t like there were many lawns to mow, but maybe he could find some place to work in a car place.

Dean found a couple ads for restaurants that needed bussers and he tore them out of the newspaper. The ripping sound caused Castiel to look over in disapproval and Sam to follow his gaze in curiousity. Dean just shrugged over at them and flashed them a smile before tearing another ad out.

There were also a few looking for mechanics. That was something that Dean could do and had been able to do for a while. The only reason he was taking auto shop now was because it was an easy class and it was still something that interested him. There wasn’t much left for him to learn though.

Unfortunately, most of the ads wanted people eighteen and older and he wasn’t quite eighteen yet. He tore them out anyways figuring they might be worth a shot. Besides working at an auto shop paid more than bussing tables.

“Dean?”

Dean looked up, shaken out of his thinking, at Sam who was standing in front of him.

“We’re done, we can go now.”

“Alright, great, now we can get something to eat...” Dean hoped they’d be able to. Maybe Dad was at home and had bought groceries or they could order pizza or something. He stood up and stretched, pulling the ads off of the table and stuffing them in his pocket.

Castiel was already heading out the doors ahead of them Dean noticed and he slowly made his way towards the same doors, holding it open for Sammy as they walked through. The car was to the left and Dean headed for it when he looked around and saw Castiel still walking down the street, around all the people. So maybe he didn’t have a car.

Dean may not like the guy very much, but since the sun had went down it had dropped in temperature and Dean was shivering just standing there. He got in the car and didn’t wait for it to warm all the way up before he pulled away from the curb and drove down the street until he was beside Castiel and he slowed his speed and rolled down the window.

“Hey, you want a ride?” Dean yelled over Sam who was sitting in the passenger seat. Castiel looked up and silently judged the option.

“It would be out of-” a horn blared behind Dean and he rolled down his other window, flipping the people off behind him. “It would be out of your way. I can walk,” Castiel finished once the car had sped past Dean.

“It’s fine. It’s cold as balls out here,” he laughed and gestured for Cas to get in. Castiel once again seemed to think about it for a moment before slowly heading for the car and Dean stopped it so he could get in.

After Castiel had gotten in, Dean put the car back in drive and headed to the corner before turning around and heading to their apartment. “I hope you don’t mind, I want to drop Sammy off first,” he looked into the rearview mirror.

“Not at all...” Castiel said softly and looked down at his hands, not saying anything else and Dean decided to drown out the awkward silence with a bit of Bon Jovi, cranking up the radio. He quietly sang the lyrics under his breath, and nudged Sammy who rolled his eyes at first but then joined in and Dean raised his voice a little before glancing in the rearview mirror again to find Castiel watching them. He then cleared his throat and lowered his voice as the song ended and changed to a bit of the weather and traffic for the area.

 

When Dean pulled up front of the apartment complex he handed Sam the key. “If Dad’s there, tell him I’m dropping someone off at home and I’ll be back soon. If he’s not, remember, don’t-”

“Don’t answer the door for strangers, I know...” Sam pushed the door open and slammed it closed to get it to lock, then waved before he entered the hotel lobby.

Dean glanced into the rearview mirror and noticed Castiel staring at the apartment building with what seemed like distaste. “You know you can come sit up here now that Sam’s gone...”

Castiel’s head shot up and he looked up to the passenger seat before nodding and quickly changing from the back to front seats. “Thank you. For the ride that is. It was... very kind of you considering...”

“Considering what?” Dean cocked an eyebrow and pulled back out onto the road. “And you gotta tell me where to go.”

“Considering... it doesn’t really matter. Take a left back up near the library,” he instructed in his low voice.

“Alright then.” Dean assumed he was about to say something on the rude side from the look on his face and the way he stopped himself. He brushed it off though. He already wasn’t fond of this guy as it was. It wasn’t like he needed another reason to dislike him.

The rest of the ride was in silence, not like Dean expected any riveting conversation. Both of them obviously felt uncomfortable in the environment.

“It will be the third house from the end on your left,” Castiel said, already looking in that direction after he had told Dean to take a right. The house was out of the city, in more of a suburban area and for a minute, despite his aversion to Castiel, Dean was glad he had made the decision to bring him home. It would have been a long walk in the cold.

Dean pulled into the driveway, around a multitude of cars, all fancy new buicks or hondas. He silently wondered if one of those belonged to Castiel and if it did, why he hadn’t driven it.

“Thank you again for the ride. I suppose I will be seeing you in school tomorrow,” Castiel said as he opened the door and grabbed his fancy cross body backpack.

“Not a problem, see ya,” Dean gave a stiff wave, relieved to have him out of the car. Castiel closed the door and nodded once before heading towards the door and Dean pulled out of the driveway, hoping he would be able to find his way back to the apartment.


	4. Chapter 4

When Dean walked into the apartment the smell of food hit him. Chinese food boxes were spread over their small table and Sam was on the couch eating his food. John had obviously been sitting and eating there as well but had gotten up to open the door since Dean had given his key to Sammy.  


“Hopefully you saved some for me,” Dean smiled at the prospect of food. He hadn’t had anything since the granola bar that morning.  


“There’s still plenty left. Don’t eat it all though. Might be able to have some for dinner tomorrow...” John nodded at the boxes and went to go seat himself back on the couch.  


Dean dropped his backpack in one of the chairs and grabbed one of the paper plates, dishing out some of the food but making sure there was enough for tomorrow. Then he plopped down in the worn out recliner.  


There was a football game on the television but Dean didn’t really pay attention to which one it was. He just silently ate his food, still a little on the angry side with his father. Then he tossed the paper plate in the trash, grabbed his bag from the chair and headed into his room.  


His room. It didn’t sound right. Because this wasn’t his room and never would be. Not really. His room was back at home in Kansas, suffering from smoke and fire and blackened walls. Even then he would rather be sleeping there than here.  


Dean sighed and tossed the bag on the ground with a thud then pulled out some sweatpants and a large shirt and went to go take a shower. He hadn’t had the chance this morning with having to get him and Sammy to school and also having to find food for them.  


The pipes creaked and groaned and it must have taken at least ten minutes for the water to get hot. At this point, Dean was sure he should probably be thankful to just have that hot water.  


It felt good to be clean. The whole apartment made him feel dirty compared to his old home which had been nice with no bugs and carpet without stains and furniture that smelled like the spray his mom would put all over the house to keep the stink out. He missed that. He wanted to go back, not like it was ever going to happen. His mom was gone and there was nothing that anybody could do about it. Least of all him.  


After the shower, Dean went straight to bed. This was new for him, going to get some actual sleep. Back at home he usually stayed out partying or something. He managed to never get drunk off his ass, but more than once he broke curfew and he would get grounded or something. He even wished to have that again.  


But now he was laying in his tiny, stiff bed that was barely big enough to fit him. The heater was on but it still wasn’t circulating well into the bedroom and he had to use the musty covers to try and keep warm.  


Sam came in sometime later. Dean had already had his eyes closed and was fighting for sleep that wasn’t coming and he heard the door open, pretending to be out. Sammy quietly got dressed and slipped into his own bed and before Dean actually fell asleep, he could have sworn he heard crying. 

John woke Dean up again the next morning. He informed him that he left money on the counter for their breakfast until he could get some groceries. Dean doubted he’d have time until the weekend but he nodded anyway.  


He was just getting out of bed when he heard the apartment door close and the lock click into place. Dean ran a hand through his bed head and stood up, slipping off his warm pair of sweatpants and getting into the nearest pair of jeans which just happened to be the ones he had worn yesterday. Then he slipped a long sleeved shirt on and put his jacket on, on top of that, stuffing his hands into the pockets to find something papery in one. He pulled his hand out to see the wanted ads he had torn from the newspaper the previous night and laid them under his pillow just so his dad wouldn’t find them.  


“Sammy, gotta get up buddy,” Dean shook his brother awake and grabbed his bag, hauling it out to the living room where he flipped on the television to the news and pocketed the money on the counter before heading to the bathroom.  


By the time he got out, Sam was already waiting for his turn and he walked out of the hallway and sat back down in the same recliner he had used last night. The weather was on but it wasn’t like Dean needed to see the actual temperature to know it was too damn cold outside. But it said it was about 18 degrees outside and Dean shivered just thinking about it. It was supposed to get up to the thirties but how much was that really going to help? The lows in Kansas had been worse at down to 2 degrees in the morning when it was dark out but the highs usually got to the mid forties at the least. To Dean, those ten degrees made a lot of difference.  


“Are you watching the news?” Sammy spoke up when he came out from the bathroom.  


“Yeah. What’s it to ya? I can’t see how cold it has to be before my fingers freeze off?” Dean clicked off the television and got up, wiggling his fingers in Sam’s face as he passed.  


“I guess you can, weirdo,” Sam laughed a little. “Do we have breakfast this morning?”  


“We’re going out for breakfast. Have money this time. Did you tell Dad about yesterday morning or something?” Dean asked as he grabbed his bag from the floor and swung it over one shoulder. His phone was on the counter and he stuffed that in his pocket before grabbing the keys to the car and the new apartment key that they would have to make copies of.  


“Yeah, I mean... you had to use your lunch money to buy me breakfast then you didn’t have anything to eat...” Sam looked out for Dean almost as much as Dean looked out for Sam sometimes. It was brotherly instinct and Dean knew that Sam looked up to him.  


“Well, if you were that worried about it you would have let me steal that roll off your lunch tray before you took off yesterday,” Dean teased him and let him out the door before turning and locking it.  


“I was hungry though.”  


“I know you were, I’m just kidding,” Dean looked down at him and put his free hand down to pat him on the back. “So what do you want today? Think we can find a McDonald’s around here?”  


“Probably,” Sam shrugged a little. “They’re everywhere aren’t they?”  


Dean just laughed and he stepped in the elevator once they reached the end of the hall. 

There was a McDonald’s not too far and after driving around for a few minutes longer than Dean would have liked they found it and he parked on the side of the road because there was no drive thru to this one. He asked for Sam’s order and then told him to stay in the warm car and lock the doors until he got back before getting out and heading inside.  


A line had formed at the counter but it wasn’t too long and Dean managed to get in and out in a matter of minutes, knocking on the window of the car to get Sam to let him in. He watched as Sam leaned over to unlock the door before Dean pulled it open and tossed the bag to Sam, then handed him his drink before getting in the car.  
He closed the door behind him and stuck the drink in between his legs to hold as he threw the car into gear and started off down the road. Then he picked his drink up and popped the top back, taking a sip and burning his tongue on the coffee.  


By the time they reached the school, Dean had finished his breakfast sandwich but was still carrying his coffee. Sam had finished all of his food and Dean tossed the bag into the trash can just inside the door of the school, then he watched as Sam walked off down the hall.  
“Bye to you too,” Dean called out sarcastically and rolled his eyes before heading to his locker. As soon as he turned around he bumped into someone and took a step back to look at Castiel and a few of his friends. There was a bit of coffee now splattered against the same tan trench coat he had worn yesterday. “Sorry man...” he apologized and caught the glaring eyes of a few of the people that he was with.  


“You should watch where you’re going,” Castiel mumbled under his breath before looking up and giving Dean an irritated look.  


“Excuse me? Maybe you should watch where you’re going. There are like five of you. One of you should have seen me,” Dean scoffed and dramatically wiped the rim of the coffee cup that was thankfully still mostly full. He’d need it if he was going to make it through today alive.  


“Do not blame us for your own inconsideration for the well being of yourself as well as others.”  


“I don’t even know what that means, but I resent that.” Then Dean shook his head and walked around them. It was an accident and the guy couldn’t even accept that. He had to put blame on someone and it had to be Dean.  


Dean managed to grab his books and stuff them into his backpack, then grabbed his coffee back from where he had laid it down, managing to avoid the kid Garth until he left and got to first period. And so the day began. 

The classes went by slowly. Except for Auto Shop which seemed to be so much shorter than all the other classes. They had been working on an out tail light. Or learning how to fix one and when the teacher asked for volunteers, Dean was surprised to see his hand up for the first trying to fix it. Trying of course wasn’t really in Dean’s vocabulary any more, but the work gave him something to focus on. He didn’t really like standing in the background and judging the other students when they did something wrong. So this time he got to work first and managed to fix it and let the next students have a turn. The teacher was obviously impressed with Dean, whether because he was new or because he was just Dean, he didn’t know.  


Dean sat with Benny at lunch again. This time he had saved him a seat at the table he had been at the previous day before the argument broke out. He walked over with his tray and sat in the seat as Benny introduced him around. Dean stayed quiet most of the time but it was better than sitting alone. 

Gym class came around later than he would have liked. Dean liked to move and work out and get outside, despite the cold. This time Dean had to put the shorts on. Apparently even if the coach liked his athletics, didn’t mean he was afraid to threaten him with detention if he didn’t wear the shorts.  


As he changed, he reluctantly stood there listening to Garth talk his ear off. Benny shot him a sympathetic look from his locker and Dean gave a forced, sarcastic smile. He sighed and pushed his jeans off, grabbing the gym shorts from his locker. He was slipping them on when he looked up and noticed Castiel staring at him from across the room. Dean quickly pulled the shorts the rest of the way up and stood straight. When he looked back, Castiel was already gone.  


Dean met Benny outside on the track again. The coach had ordered them out and Dean started stretching now. Winds were stronger today than they had been yesterday and it was freezing.  


“Why don’t you guys have sweatpants for the gym uniform in winter?” Dean asked Benny.  


“We used to, think they’re ordering new ones and they just never came in. If we’re lucky we’ll get them before the end of the month.”  


“Great, so we only have to freeze for another month...” Dean groaned and Benny laughed but didn’t get the chance to say anything else because the coach had come out and was standing in front of them.  


“Alright, since I let you out of running the mile yesterday, you get to do it today. Now go,” that was all they got and then the coach sat down in a plastic chair he had dragged out with him.  


The whole class took off on the track and Dean stayed by Benny instead of pushing ahead of the crowd. He had worked at it yesterday, today he was going to take it easy.  


“Everyone’s actually running. That’s surprising,” Dean commented when they first started out and could still talk. At his old school, half the kids would run the other half would walk and no one usually gave a crap.  


“Yeah, if you don’t finish in a like, twelve minutes, then Coach makes you do pushups. No one likes it. Especially everyone behind us now,” Benny jerked his thumb over his shoulder. Dean turned around, running backwards for a moment to see a few girls and guys struggling at the very back of the pack. Then all those guys Castiel seemed to hang out with, including Castiel himself. When he turned back around Benny was giving him a look and he muttered, “Show off,” jokingly under his breath.  


“You would think some of them could run faster than that...” Dean said.  


“Yeah, some of them can, but they like to stick together kind of. Like you are with me right now.”  


“But you’re running fast enough.”  


“I don’t know, don’t ask me. I don’t understand them,” Benny shrugged and picked up a faster pace.  


By the second lap, those in the front were getting close to passing those in the very back. Dean and Benny weren’t talking any more because it was more effort than it was worth while running. On the third lap, those who were really trying, were passing them. Dean looked around him at the people who were running by, not really caring even though it seemed that some of them thought it was a big deal that they were passing him. Either way, Benny and him were making good time and didn’t need to work any harder at it. It wasn’t a competition.  
It was over halfway through the last lap when they were about to turn the last corner when Dean heard a loud yelp and then an uproar of out of breath laughter. Then a group of guys ran past Dean and Benny. Dean slowed down, looking back. Someone had fallen and was laying in the middle of the track. No one was helping them up and Coach wasn’t even paying attention, his nose stuffed in some book or maybe it was a magazine.  


Dean slowed down even further until he stopped and then turned around. Benny shook his head, probably knowing what Dean was up to and most likely thinking he was crazy. Maybe this was an everyday thing, but Dean hadn’t been here every day and still... someone should help them. Dean started jogging back through the rest of the class until the people stopped coming because all of them were finishing the lap.  


The guy was sitting up now and Dean could make out the black hair, recognizing it as Castiel. Of course it would be Castiel. Dean shook his head but ran over and crouched down in front of him. “You okay?” he asked and noticed the bloody knee and palms.  


Castiel looked up at him, his expression full of surprise. “My ankle hurts...” he looked back down , mumbling the answer shyly.  


“Alright, which one?” Dean looked down at him.  


“My left one...” It was the same one as the busted up knee and Dean stood up, grabbing Castiel’s wrists gently to pull him up.  


“Come on, let’s get you patched up,” Dean pulled one of Castiel’s arms over his shoulders and wrapped his own arm around Cas’s waist to help support him.  


“Why are you doing this?” Cas asked as he took a step forward and winced. “If you don’t finish in a certain amount of time you’ll have to-”  


“Do push ups, I know. I’m sure this is an exception. Coach knows I can run anyway. So what happened? You just fell or what?”  


“I was tripped,” Castiel confirmed Dean’s suspicions as he limped along. By now everyone else had finished the lap and everyone, including the coach, was just watching them.  


“Who tripped you?” Dean asked.  


“Metatron,” Castiel mumbled again.  


“Meta who? Isn’t that the guy from Transformers?”  


“No, it is a biblical name. Their family attends our church.” Dean didn’t know what kind of name that was in the Bible but he looked into the crowd of people watching and wondered which one of those was the asshole. “I don’t understand why he dislikes me so much.”  


Maybe because you act like you’re better than everyone else. Dean thought about saying it but kept his mouth shut, knowing that Castiel was smart and dressed in what was practically a suit everyday and that was probably the real reason.  


“He’s just a dick,” Dean said instead, and the guy had to be. No matter what, it’s not okay to hurt someone just because you don’t like them. That just makes you a bully and Dean could not stand bullies, especially after Sam started coming home with black eyes, or upset because the kids would tease him because of his height and call him ‘Midget’.  


“That is a very derogative term,” Cas flinched and hopped on one foot, trying to catch his balance. Dean stopped and waited for him to stabilize.  


“Yeah, well he deserves it.”  


“He is rude, but there are others too. Are all of them, as you say, dicks?” They got even closer, almost to the edge of the grass off the track.  


“Yeah they are,” Dean looked down at Cas. Castiel went silent as did everyone else as they approached. “I’ll take him to the nurse,” he said to the coach, practically challenging him to tell him otherwise.  


“We can take him,” a voice behind them rang out. Dean turned to see two of Cas’s friends stepping forward.  


“Yeah, offer to help him now. If you were really his friends then why didn’t you help him when he fell?” Dean glared. Right below bullies on the list of things Dean hated was people who pretended to be your friends. Well, actually it was people messing with his car. But people pretending to be your friends was right under that.  


Everyone looked between Dean and the two guys. Especially Castiel whose face had gone slack.  


“Go on Winchester, take him to the building,” Coach said, choosing for them who would take Castiel up. Dean looked at the coach and nodded, not looking back as he started through the field, moving slowly enough for Cas.  


“They are my friends, Dean,” Castiel said when they had got far enough away that no one behind them would be able to hear. “They had to finish the lap or else-”  


“Yeah, I know Cas,” Dean adjusted a little as he shook his head, “but real friends don’t leave other friends lying on the ground and bleeding.”  


“It’s Castiel,” Cas sighed a little. Dean hadn’t even noticed he had let the name slip out.  


“Well, I’m going to call you Cas if you don’t mind. It’s easier,” he raised an eyebrow and waited for any apprehension but didn’t receive any.  


“Do you consider yourself my friend?”  


Dean looked down at Cas who wasn’t looking at him. “What?”  


“Do you consider yourself my friend?” Cas repeated. “You said that real friends wouldn’t leave other friends lying on the ground and bleeding, and you didn’t leave me there. Does that mean you think of yourself as my friend?”  


“No,” Dean shook his head after a moment, “that was just common courtesy. I’m not good friend material.”  


“Oh...” he didn’t say it with any disappointment, or any relief. It was just kind of there.  


They kept walking across the field until they got to the building and Dean opened the building and they went inside.


	5. Chapter 5

Dean made it to the nurse’s office and got Cas seated in a chair. The nurse was in the backroom and Dean walked over, knocking on the door frame. She looked up, surprised and Dean simply jerked his thumb behind him. 

The nurse followed him out into the room and took one look at Cas before going to the sink and grabbing gauze and bandages and antibacterial whatnot. Dean went to lean on the doorframe and watch what was going on. 

“So what happened to you?” the nurse looked up at Cas as she knelt in front of him and started cleaning off his knee. Dean noticed him flinch a few times and he felt for him, he really did. Skinned knees hurt, no matter what people said, and that alcohol you had to pour over them made it even worse. 

“I fell on the track...” Cas said through gritted teeth and Dean pulled his mouth to one side. 

“You got pretty scraped up.”

“I’ve noticed,” Cas said and Dean almost laughed because that sounded a lot like sarcasm. 

“Well, we’ll get you all cleaned up. Your knee, your hands, anything else bothering you?” she placed a cloth pad over Cas’s knee and started wrapping gauze around it. 

“My left foot. I seem to have fallen on it wrong.” 

“Alright, I’ll take a look at that too,” the nurse didn’t even look up as she took one of Cas’s hands and dabbed some more of the alcohol on it. He flinched again and looked away, then gave Dean a glance. 

The nurse wrapped both of Cas’s hands up before she bent down to check his foot. Dean noticed the way Cas clenched his jaw and grit his teeth as the nurse tried to take the sneaker off, even after it had been untied. She had to take the sock off too, then took the same things off of Cas’s other foot. 

Dean could see from where he was standing that it looked swollen and discolored. He stepped a little closer, trying to get a better look. Sam had broken his arm once a long time ago, having fallen off a swing, and it looked similar to that. 

“Do you have anyone you could call that could come and pick you up and take you to a hospital?” The nurse asked, a frown creasing her forehead as she looked between the two feet. 

Cas seemed to pale at the mention of the hospital and he was silent for a moment. “My father’s at work and Michael is at college. I couldn’t bother him.” 

“So there’s no one you could call? I’m sure your father or Michael would understand,” the nurse stood up and went for the phone. 

“No,” Cas said a little too quickly and Dean raised an eyebrow, wondering what was going on. 

“I could take him,” Dean said from the doorway and both Cas and the nurse looked up. 

“We can’t have you missing classes,” the nurse shook her head. “Why don’t you go ahead and try your brother?” 

“I’m fine, really. It won’t be a problem. He obviously needs someone to take him.” 

The nurse sighed looking down at his foot. “Fine. I guess. I’ll write you a pass. Take it to the office and get them to unlock the student parking lot for you.” 

Dean nodded and looked over at Cas who seemed a little relieved and gave Dean a small nod before looking back down at his foot. The nurse wrote out the pass and Dean took it before walking over to Cas. “You think you can get your shoes if I help you out? Or shoe...” he assumed Cas would put the other one back on his good foot. 

“Yes. I’m sure I can,” Cas nodded and grabbed one sock from the pile, putting it back on and putting the shoe on after, tying it back up. Then he stuck the other sock inside his tennis shoe and picked it up. Dean then helped Cas up and started slowly out of the clinic and to the front desk.

There was a different secretary there when Dean walked up and he was a little relieved. The other lady hadn’t seemed all that friendly but this one seemed nicer. Dean handed her the note and she looked over at Cas before ringing up a janitor who would go unlock the student parking lot. 

Dean awkwardly stood there with Cas until the janitor came into the office with the keys and looked at the boys, nodding for them to follow. They did, slowly. Dean held most of Cas’s weight up and he thought he was going to have to actually pick him up when they got to the busy road between the parking lot and the school. 

Fortunately they got to leave at the crosswalk. They took longer than the sign though, and some of the people honked loudly at them but no one plowed them over. The janitor had already unlocked the lot when they managed to reach him. 

“You boys be careful out there,” he grumbled in a gruff voice. Dean nodded in response to him, focusing too much on keeping Cas upright rather than answering. He led Cas over to his car and unlocked it, opening the door and making sure Cas was seated before going around to his side and sitting down, the car shifting underneath him. 

“You have already helped me enough. Why are you doing this?” Cas looked over at him, having already gotten situation. 

“This isn’t all for you. I’m getting out of class early. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stay though, once we get there. I still have to pick up Sammy.”

“I understand,” Cas didn’t say anymore as they backed out of the spot and Dean pulled out onto the road. 

“Want to give me directions? I’m guessing you know where the place is.” 

“I would rather you just take me home,” Cas said and Dean looked at him incredulously. 

“Home? Dude, have you seen your foot? There’s no way I’m just taking you home,” Dean glanced over at him repeatedly as he tried to keep his eyes on the traffic. 

Cas glanced over at him, his expression calm. But every once in a while when they hit a pothole he’d wince and stiffen. “Fine,” he finally said after a few blocks of bumping. 

Dean made it to the hospital, keeping them and the car in one piece. He pulled into the loop around outside the E.R. entrance and told Cas to get out and wait for him while he parked the car. After he had stumbled out and was leaning on the nearest pole, Dean found the closest parking spot available and turned the engine off, getting out and jogging across the road to get to Cas. 

Just as he had been told, Cas did not move from his position. Of course there weren’t many places for him to go. Or ways for him to get there besides hopping and Cas didn’t seem like the hopping type. 

“Is there a reason you didn’t want me to bring you here?” Dean asked as he wrapped his arm around the guy, right under his own arms. 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he mumbled through gritted teeth, trying to keep his injured foot off the ground as much as possible. 

They made their way inside and Dean helped him to the desk. “My name is Castiel Novak, I believe I may have broken my foot,” he said gruffly. 

“Do you have any parents you need to call?” the nurse asked as she pinned some paperwork to a clipboard and handed it over the counter for him to fill out. 

“I am of legal age, I do not need parent involvement,” Cas took the form and motioned for Dean to take him to sit down. 

Dean almost thought about apologizing to the nurse but he just shook his head and suddenly remembered why he didn’t like Cas very much. “You can’t get used to this,” he said as he took Cas to some of the plastic chairs. 

“Used to what?”

“Me helping you all the time,” Dean said shortly and sat down in the chair beside him. 

“I am certainly not expecting you to help me all the time,” Castiel said, sounding offended by even the proposition that he might. 

“Good. I’m just making sure you know this won’t be a thing.” Dean grumbled a little, slightly pestered by the fact that Cas had sounded so offended. He slid his cell out of his pocket and checked the time. “Listen, I gotta go pick up Sam. Looks like you got everything covered here, so I’ll see ya at school,” he got up without waiting for Cas to respond and started out. Before he left though he stopped by the nurse and told her to make sure he didn’t bail. Then he walked outside, cold air hitting him like a brick wall.   
He stopped to get used to it and happened to glance inside the hospital and caught Cas staring. Cas didn’t seem to notice for a moment before he caught Dean’s gaze. Dean gave him an awkward wave before promptly turning around and heading to his car. 

 

The next time he saw Cas was the next morning. It was Friday which was a relief to Dean because that meant two days to go check out the ads for jobs he’d torn out of the newspaper. Unfortunately the day wasn’t starting too well. As he turned around the corner to his locker, Cas and his gang were all standing around talking about something. He had a big plaster cast on his foot and crutches under his arms that looked too out of place with his dress pants and trench coat. 

Cas seemed to have noticed him too and he caught his glance, face unreadable. The rest of his friends also seemed to notice his presence and they turned around, a few of them shooting him glares. They quickly picked up Cas’s books for him and ushered him away as if they were afraid Dean would try to steal him or break his other foot.   
Dean rolled his eyes and continued on his way to his locker. Cas was too stuck up for Dean to like. He admired laid back people who couldn’t give a crap, people like himself. As they say, “birds of a feather stay together”... or something like that. 

When Dean finally made it to his locker, he found Garth leaning against it grinning. “Guess what big guy,” he moved just an inch away onto someone else’s locker. Dean spun the dial on his own, swinging it open and blocking his view of Garth. “We have a project in English. We’re working in partners and we get to pick our own. We can work together!”   
Dean felt like slamming his head inside the door. The last thing he needed was a big project. Or more quality time with Garth. As hard as Dean was trying to be nice to the poor guy, he was definitely good at getting on Dean’s last nerve. But he was just trying to be nice and honestly he didn’t know anyone else in that class well, so he’d probably end up with Garth one way or another. 

“Awesome,” Dean mumbled, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Garth didn’t catch it though and once Dean had pulled his books out, Garth shut the door for him. 

“I know right? Don’t worry, I got this thing,” he nodded weirdly and Dean gave a weak smile. 

“Cool...” he said and turned around, once again hoping to evade any more conversation though it was obvious that wasn’t going to happen. Garth stuck to him like glue and before first period even started, Dean had a pounding headache. 

Sure enough, in first period the teacher announced a book project on Of Mice and Men. They all ran down to the library to get their books and Garth talked his ear off the whole way there, enthusiastically presenting ideas for how they could present it. Apparently they had a lot of options. Other people in the class were looking back at Dean sympathetically though, he noticed, not one of them tried to save him from the predicament. 

The day just got worse and worse. Algebra snuck up on him next and they started a new chapter. Dean had already been behind at his last school and now they were moving on and past what he had just barely learned and he didn’t understand this chapter at all. There were graphs and what not and it was just plain terrible. He ended up just sitting there, not taking any notes, because what was the point after all? 

Ceramics just wasn’t a good class all together. There was so much stuff to learn and everyone else in the class had already had half a year to get their things together and know how to work the clay. They were building boxes and what the hell did wedging clay mean anyways? Then you had to cut here and there and at the end of the day he only had one side of his box finished and it looked like it was about to fold in on itself. 

Then was auto shop. Normally a good class but he didn’t even get to work on any cars today because they were taking a test which bugged him even though he supposed it was better than trying to make another wall for his box. 

At least lunch was alright. He sat with Benny again who seemed to have abandoned his group for Dean. That made him feel nice even though he wouldn’t admit it to save his own life. The food was crappy but at least it was food and it started to soothe his headache from that morning. 

Government was easier than the other classes he’d had and they didn’t get any homework which was a good thing. He just sat back and listened to the teacher drone on. At least   
he could understand the material more now. It wasn’t figuring problems or analyzing crap. It was plain old facts. This is how the government is run. Know it. 

Gym was the easiest as always. Garth was there to bug him as he got changed but once he met up with Benny the guy seemed to wander off to find someone else to hang out with. Cas was sitting on the sidelines with the coach as they did one lap around the track. 

“What are you doing tonight?” Benny asked as they jogged around the first corner. 

“Tonight? I don’t know, probably watching my brother...” he shrugged. “Why?”

“There’s a party up at some guy’s house. Thought we’d crash it,” he smirked and Dean laughed. 

“I’m there man. Want me to pick you up?” 

“You got a cool car?”

“The coolest.”

“Sure, I’ll write the address when we get back to the locker rooms,” he grinned and Dean thought that maybe his night would be better than his day. The rest of the period they spent on the basketball court again, tossing the ball back and forth and just talking. 

His last class of the day, physics, he literally slept through. The teacher didn’t even notice as always and he was shaken awake at the bell, standing up drowsily and swinging his bag over his shoulder, ready to leave. He met Sam at the front door and pushed through the crowds to get to his car. 

Dean was ready to get out of there and he waited impatiently in the line of cars waiting to get out. Then when he finally got up there Sam turned to look at him.   
“Remember, I have to go to the library...” he said and Dean groaned. 

“Right, you have that tutoring thing. Dang it,” he sighed and turned the car to go the other direction. He hoped he was going to get back in time to go to that party. He needed something good in his life right about now. 

When they got to the library he parked and they got out, walking inside and taking up the seats they had occupied last time. That girl, Meg, was back at the counter sorting books and Dean decided to watch her rather than focus on anything else in that library. She was hot. What was he going to say?

It felt like a long time sitting there and Dean was bored. By now watching that girl at the front desk had gotten boring enough but he still glanced at her every once in a while. She seemed worried and kept checking the clock and when Dean looked up at it he remembered what she had said last time about Cas always getting there at 4:45. But now, it was 5:23 and there was still no sign of the guy. 

“Hey, Sam, what was the number for Cas again? You still have it?” he looked down at his brother who had his nose stuffed in another book, not seeming to notice that his tutor was late. 

“No, I don’t...” he shook his head, barely looking up. 

Dean sighed and pulled out his phone, looking at the sent calls list and finding the last number before dialling it. He pressed the phone to his ear and stood up to walk towards the back of the library where it would be less populated. 

After a few rings Dean was about to hang up when the line clicked. “Hello?” he said into the phone after a moment of silence.

“Hello, who is this?” 

“Cas? It’s me, Dean. We’re waiting at the library. Did you forget you were supposed to tutor Sam today?”

“I have not forgotten. It just seems I am going to be late,” he said over the other line. 

“I’ve noticed. Next time give us a heads up. I have places to be you know,” then he flipped the phone closed, cutting Cas off. He stared at it for a second before slipping it back into his jacket pocket and making his way back towards Sammy. 

He spent the next ten minutes impatiently drumming his fingers against the arm of the chair. He had to be at Benny’s by 7:00, 8:00 at the latest. Surely it wouldn’t take that long, but if it did... 

By 5:45, Cas was hobbling in the door on his crutches, face red, especially his nose. His hands didn’t look so hot either. Dean suddenly felt a little guilty. The guy had probably walked here all the way from school. 

“Sam come on,” Dean nudged him and stood up, walking over to Cas. 

“Do you want some help?” he asked even though he wasn’t sure what exactly he could do. 

“I am in no need of assistance,” he didn’t even look at Dean but it wasn’t hard to see that the guy was shaking from the cold. 

“Okay, then I think I’m going to go out to find a coffee or something. Have fun with Sam,” Dean shrugged. Normally he wouldn’t have left Sam alone but Cas was too stuck up to be some evil mastermind intent on hurting Dean’s little brother. So he turned and walked out the door after a small wave to Sam and holding up his phone to let him know to call if he needed anything. 

Dean walked down the street to a small coffee shop he had noticed for the second time today as they drove down the road to the library. It was small and hopefully cheap. He only had a few dollars in his pocket left over from lunch. 

Nothing about the place was clean. It wasn’t even really a coffee shop, aside from the large coffee sign out front. It was more like a Gas n’ Sip without the gas. The coffee was a dollar each and he bought one for himself, pouring in sugar and cream and whatnot to make it sweeter. Then he went over to a hot chocolate machine and got a cup for Sam. He was about to leave, folding up the last dollar and some odd change and stuffing it in his pocket when he turned back with a sigh and decided to be polite for once. 

When he finally got everything he needed he headed back to the library, then snuck in, making sure no librarians saw him with the drinks. Cas and Sam were at the same table they had worked at last time and Dean walked over and pulled up a chair beside Sam, pushing him his hot chocolate. 

Both of them looked up at Dean, going quiet. Dean tried to ignore the agitated look given from Castiel and instead slid him a cup. “You looked cold, thought you might like some. It’s just coffee... I uh, brought some of these too if you want any,” he dug some sugar and creamer out of his jacket pocket and laid them on the table. 

Then he kicked back in the chair, laying his legs under the table on the unoccupied chair in front of him. He pulled the top back on his own cup and took a drink even though it was definitely still too hot and water sprung to his eyes as his forced himself not to spit it out. Swallowing hard, he gave a small cough and set the coffee cup back onto the table. 

“I appreciate the thought, but food and drink are not allowed in the library,” Castiel said plainly, as if maybe Dean didn’t know the rules. 

“Yeah, well we’re not really supposed to be talking either but we seem to be doing plenty of that,” Dean shrugged as he scraped his burnt tongue over his teeth to try to get the feeling to go away. 

Cas seemed to try to stare him down for a moment before reluctantly taking the cup and sliding it towards him. Having done his job, or what he felt was his job, Dean decided to just pull out his phone and see if he could manage to play any of that Tetris game on his phone even though he could only get the demo because he hadn’t paid for it.

He didn’t want to go back to those overstuffed chairs again so he stayed where he was and this time Cas didn’t argue with him. They were mumbling over something, Dean couldn’t even make out a word so it was probably that Latin thing Sam was taking. 

The time seemed to drag by and after a while Dean started checking the time between every failed game he played and looking up to see if he could tell how close they were to being finished. 

It was around seven when they finally stood up and Dean looked up, quickly grabbing his things too because he needed to be at Benny’s soon. He took his now empty coffee cup and tossed it in the nearest trashcan waiting for Sam to catch up, and again Dean looked over at Cas. 

His house was too far to let him walk. Definitely too far with a broken foot and in the freezing cold. But Dean didn’t have time to drop him off at his house and be back in time to get to Benny’s place. 

As Sam was still picking up his stuff Dean stopped walking so Cas could catch up. When Cas passed by he barely even gave Dean a glance and he didn’t stop or slow down either. Dean rolled his eyes and matched Cas’s pace. 

“So, I’d offer you a ride home, but I have this party to be at you see...” 

“I understand completely. There is no apology necessary,” Cas said in his deep monotone voice, but he honestly didn’t look all too happy. 

“I wasn’t finished yet. See, I have to pick up Benny for the party and I was going to say that you could come with us?” It definitely wasn’t Dean’s idea of fun but at least he wouldn’t make Cas walk home. Maybe he could find him a room in the house and let him sit in there with the TV on or he’d work on homework or something.

“I don’t go to parties. I don’t get invited,” Cas sighed as if it was obvious and it kind of was but Dean didn’t really care. 

“So? We didn’t get invited either. It’s called crashing. Come on, it’ll be fun,” probably not but at least Dean wouldn’t feel guilty. 

Cas seemed to think about it for a moment as they stood at the doors, both waiting for Sam before they were going to walk outside into the cold. Then he shook his head seriously. “I can’t.” 

“Why not? Come on. I can’t let you walk home like this,” Dean gestured to Cas’s foot. 

“I just can’t. It doesn’t matter.” 

“Come on. Really? Just come with us. It’s not that big of a deal,” he pushed. Cas kept denying and by the time Sam joined them he finally said, “Okay, how about I just pick up Benny, stop by for a minute or two at the party then I’ll leave and take you home?”

Cas let out a loud sigh like he was through with dealing with Dean’s childish bargaining. “I suppose that would be alright, but I have to be home before 8:30,” he gave Dean a serious look and Dean gave him a small smile in return. 

“Sure, that’s fine,” he raised an eyebrow. “Okay, everyone in the car. Got a schedule,” he pushed the library doors open and walked out to the car.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first destiel fanfiction so please be patient and understanding. Hope you enjoy!


End file.
